Beyond the Deal Striking the Right Founder Investor Fit

[Music] this is a very very special panel because kotu has actually invested in sorry in huspy um so my first question is um so what is the most unique aspect of your of your relationship right as founder and investor and how has it influenced sort of hp's growth trajectory tree uh first this is the first time I sit on the panel with Jad we have known each other for a long time uh I don't on on my side I mean we're both going to have it's it's a great different perspective you're going to get here but I think for me uh Jad and I have known each other preh husp pre2 and uh I've witnessed him grow into a phenomenal entrepreneur and think think the way we approach these relationships is ultimately really it's not a investor founder Dynamic it's really a partnership and uh and a deep trusting uh relationship that you know extends Beyond uh just the professional context uh so you know for us when we first uh you know he was a big um just side point when I left beo to start C2 uh there was a transition period where I wasn't sure I wanted to start a fund and uh Jad was one of the guys who really uh you know encouraged me to do it and through that encouragement I I also he was raising his first round and I and I was lucky enough to uh to invest and then you know with great Founders you tend to find that they don't need that much help you know Jad is extremely resourceful uh the best I could do is just allow him to share his thoughts and maybe be a good sounding board maybe he'll tell you otherwise but uh yeah I'll pause there cool uh thanks for hosting uh my name is Jad um founder of ASP um in a context HP is uh the largest prop in Europe in the Middle East we're present in four cities um Dubai Abu Dhabi Madrid and Valencia we're launching um three or four more in q1 including Gad uh that that we just announced um been in the business for uh four years uh now uh started with a mortgage product where we owned roughly around 30% of the market and and um we start investing a year and a half ago in in real estate which today were also the the market leaders um so um that's a nutshell about the company I mean is actually my previous boss in Becco so that's how we know each other um spent a couple of years working on on the investment team with with him um and then uh left um a few months before he left um and and then um he he was the first investor on on that today were seriousy company um and raised roughly around 100 million from the likes of seoa Founders F and and a few others so Amir I think my question to you is going to be um how important is it to find that right fit right between investor and investe and how do you align on on your shortterm and long-term goals look I think uh it's not so the way we approach these uh discussions especially you know at the earliest stages which is where we invest at preced seed it's really an idea maybe a small team a bit of traction uh I think ultimately in our conversation we do two things we get to know the founders personal story and and their you know know everything from their childhood through to what got them to solve this particular problem in that engagement what tends to happen is you really build a deep connection and then on the other side you know we we really go deep into the business to make sure we're aligned with where they want to go but ultimately it's their Journey so uh you know things change especially at the earliest stages you know Jad when he first started out again he was mortgage as you mentioned but now he does a whole other thing with super app for real estate agents across other other cities and new geographies that perhaps were not in the plans at day zero right and I think giving Founders that space and encouragement to really go after their ambition is something we try and do it's it's not a you know checklist or a formula it's really just uh all about uh building deep connections of trust and and creating a safe space Jad from your perspective is it is it all about funding or is it looking for that you know investor who you can sort of not just of course offer you access to funding but you know grow with and have that relationship with both so yeah people tell you funding is not important it is important so pricing is important cash is important um on top of people so especially the this Venture it's a people's game and when you go and you partner with a firm at the end of the day you partner with with with the with couple of people in The Firm right so and and so for example in kot I I mainly work with air right and and and that's that's a relationship that we we have in other firms only also one one one person so um and and the good things when when you have someone who who's who's done it many times before like he's done a lot of companies here that that became big is that uh they know it's a long-term play um uh they empower the founders and the team internally for me my executive team and the ended leadership are the most important people to be aligned on on the strategy and and then so about execution U and for you to do it big if the market allows it so you need a big market then yes cash is important um Amir I mean of course um the hope of every VC is you know to take a company from from Zero to Hero right but of course there are moments of failure and moments of you know pivots either way from from a VC perspective how should how should you and an investor sort of handle those moments I mean look in my history as Jad mentioned I've been doing this for a long time that you see a lot and that gives you some level of humility and also this idea that you don't really know where things will will go but if if I talk about the sort of the outliers the ones that actually uh end up becoming you know outsized massive value contributors to ecosystems what tends to happen is you have this really strong Market pull that that you know at some stage in your journey hits you and through pivots and you know adjustments you'll end up finding that market pull what you do next is a function of you know running with the market innovating trying to take risks you know companies we invested in a company called Kopi which is a cloud Kitchen business that you know reinvented itself at every funding stage uh all the way way through to I think they're at series C post series C now and then you have the likes of also Karim which ended up starting with right hitting now is being a super app right and if you ask those Founders at day Zero they those Visions didn't uh weren't there but what happened is they built so much depth on a market that they unlocked new adjacencies new value propositions and those are the ones that tend to you know build really outsized outcomes and what you see with companies like huspy is exactly that in fact their let's say real estate solution is really taking hold in you know really exciting markets and it's it's a really interesting um growth lever for them going forward so yeah from a Founder perspective Jad let's say what are like the three things you look at you know towards your vc4 uh in moments of difficulty or challenge or were You're Expecting sort of a pivot in either direction want to help besides cash besides cash you know go ahead go go I'd rather hear it from you first I'll I'll take the the second answer look I I I maybe I'll comment like just maybe Jad you know uh he has a bunch of investors in his cap table today that all add uh their own sort of relationships as he mentioned their own uh uh value to to his journey um I I mean you know for us I think like I said earlier on like with someone like most Founders the best ones then to just you know they're the ones who are proactively asking for help they don't need it so it's only in times of like challenges maybe they're raising a funding round or they need to help you know hire a specific type of person unlock a specific type of relationship but those are critical moments that happen every so often but it's really the founder that leads those uh those asks it's it's never us coming in and trying to enforce value into those situations but you know he can yeah I I'll answer I I I I think with time it changes a lot so initially it's it's mostly the network that that you have especially on the on the larger funding grounds let's say if you're raising uh 30 40 50100 million round then that's a big Advantage especially now now that there's um a lot of global VCS that either already invested a lot in the region or they're investing a lot in the region so I would say at the early days let's say when you're series a company or or earlier then then I I would say that that's one um as you mature as as a company it becomes a bit more the the defense function so the um strong governance that comes on on on on the board level uh which is very important uh especially that the business becomes very complex multiple product multiple markets and and all of the multiple jurisdiction so especially in Europe you had to we had to do the full restructuring before we go and and um and and and we launch and and then it becomes the the balance of okay staying disciplined from a financial level but but also continue building uh if the market size is there so yeah so you're you're you've picked both real estate and Tech you know the two sectors that are really getting a lot of focus how did you sort of settle that I want to blend these two and and sort of Leverage that yeah proptech became became a thing now four years ago it wasn't thing when when we launched it I remember when when you raised the seed Dr was very difficult when we said okay we're going to be in the in the space no no one wanted to touch it right as um and and you know how much we we spent time raising the the first round now there's a lot of money pouring into into it the this asset class is has a big big Market which this is why it's very exciting for people but the question is what do you build in this assle class for you to build a really disruptive model that's scalable and and all of that which I think we have in in in husp uh so we have a clear value prop so just for you guys to to know a bit about the the business we have an infrastructure for real estate agents and mortgage brokers to build and grow their businesses on top of us so for you to imagine the experience anyone can become an agent you can be the best agent in the market or a part-time student you download the app you put your passport copy your bank info we do kyc online training online you're up and running it's as as simple as as this we pay the highest Commission in the market we give you the best technology in the market and we give you the infrastructure to close the business meaning contracts with banks developers and and marketing Cloud right and um and on on average the network that we have makes um or or the agent or the broker makes more than $15,000 a month so they're making a lot of money right uh which for me is the main kpi that that I I I look for and and now it's the next phase that that we have is is mostly about execution so they risking that from one city to um to to another speaking of money and execution I mean from a VC perspective Amir I mean a successful exit is always always what VC looks for right but is that the only thing or do you look at anything beyond a successful exit with with a company or with a Founder look I I think uh I mean for us we're measured by returns ultimately but uh I think the way we approach this is you know if we operate in two ways like if we are able to establish really good connections with our Founders build U the right type of relationship add value in certain key moments uh I think the result of that over time will be hopefully better returns I mean we're very early so it takes us about you know six to seven years for our portfolio companies to grow and and demonstrate the value that they can create because of the nature of compounding um but uh but yeah I guess you know ultimately um if I had to if I had to I guess yeah I think I I'll stop there I don't know Jad final thoughts anything else you're looking for from your VC not was the time he's he's he's going after International Capital now he's he's beyond the region so I'll let him uh no no like listen the way we think about it is uh I'm happy that we're small part in bringing International Capital to to here so it's the first time that people like Founders F like bton like fifth wall invested in the Middle East through through husp um and and I I hope more more um more companies do that I think the markets here are some of the markets are ready you can build large businesses I think the quality of the entrepreneurs is getting phenomenally better uh compared to what what it was seven eight years ago uh when we were investing um and and there's no reason why people cannot build global companies I think there's already a couple of companies that are worldclass in the region and U and in my opinion and and there should be more um coming out amazing thank you so much that's um all we have time for today thank you so much to my wonderful panelists thank you to the audience big round of applause please for my wonderful panelists [Music]